Long Beach Unified secures grant to help implement new core standards

For students who hate math and ask, "When will we ever need to use the Pythagorean theorem in real life?," that will change next year.

In April, the Long Beach Unified School District received a five-year, $7.5 million grant from the San Francisco-based S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation to help pay for the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics for the district's more than 54,300 K-8 students.

Common core standards tap into kids' natural curiosity to help make math more engaging, relevant and rigorous. Students are encouraged to apply mathematical ways of thinking about real-world challenges.

The district has started purchasing materials and planning for the teacher training that will occur in the 2013-14 school year, district spokesman Chris Eftychiou said.